Burn the candle at both ends在蠟燭的兩頭燒，喻指過度勞累。這個詞的英文解釋是：To overwork or exhaust oneself by doing too many things, especially both late at night and early in the morning.
Burn the candle at both ends這個用語在17世紀的英國開始流行，不過原意跟現在的意思不盡相同。一種說法是指浪費東西（蠟燭用來代表物品）。另一-種說法則是，在電發明前人們使用燭光照明，而當整支蠟燭燒完時，就是工作換班的時間點。
我們看下老外聊天時怎麼用burn the candle at both ends：
Henry:I feel so tired today.
我今天好累。
Fanny：Have you been working a lot of overtime lately？
你最近一直在加班嗎？
Henry：Every night for the past two weeks.
過去兩個星期的每天晚上。
Fanny:If you keep burning the candle at both ends，you're going to burn out.
如果你繼續蠟燭兩頭燒的話，你會油盡燈枯的。
看以下例句：
You need to stop burning the candle at both ends.
你不要再蠟燭兩頭燒了。
You can't burn the candle at both ends.
你不能過度耗費精力。
They like to enjoy life and often burn the candle at both ends.
他們喜歡及時行樂，往往過度消耗精力。
與Burn the candle at both ends意思相近的英文還可以用這些詞：
bite off more than（one）can chew
貪多嚼不爛
spread（oneself）too thin
分身乏術
keep（one's）nose to the grindstone
埋頭苦幹